Complaints Handling Policy & Procedure

Transcription

1 1 V2 May Introduction The purpose of this policy is to document MEF's internal complaints handling procedures. MEF adopts a customer-focused, transparent approach, and is committed to resolving complaints by taking action. MEF continuously strives to provide a high standard of services to customers. 2 Policy MEF UK s policy regarding complaint handling is to ensure that: It adopts a customer-focused, transparent approach, and is committed to resolving complaints by taking action MEF's Treating Customers Fairly policy is adhered to in respect of complaints Complaints are investigated and responded to in a timely manner Recurring and sytemic complaints are identified and remedied The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) receives full cooperation from MEF Accurate records are kept and the required periodic data is submitted to the FCA 3 Scope This policy applies to all complaints received by MEF. A complaint (as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)) is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, whether oral or written. Under the FCA's dispute handling rules (DISP), the following types of clients have a right to escalate any complaint to the FOS and should receive the information about FOS rights (see below). Clients which: employ fewer than 10 people; and have a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed 2 million (each a micro-enterprise). As a matter of best practice, MEF will follow up all complaints in the same manner regardless of whether the agreement is regulated or exempt under the Consumer Credit Act regime or not, save that information about the FOS rights will not be provided to clients which are not micro-enterprises. This policy applies to all employees and third party agents and processors including third parties (such as, debt collection agencies, intermediaries and outsourced service partners) who interact with MEF's customers and provide services on our behalf.

2 As any member of staff may receive a complaint at any time by , telephone or letter, it is very important that all staff should be aware of and understand the importance of following this policy. Once we have received a complaint into MEF, by any of the various means, the regulatory time limits to investigate, respond and to notify customers begin. If a third party has a separate complaints handling policy, this policy supersedes the third party's complaints handling policy subject to approval by MEF management. 4 Procedure Complaint Resolution Timescales Receipt of complaint All complaints should be logged in the MEF Complaints Log which can be found in Worksite. Complaint needs to be classified as either: Type 1 Claim of over 60,000 (AUD100,000) Alleged breach of law (fraud, gross negligence) Poses a material reputational risk to Macquarie Breach of privacy laws Type 2 complainant not resolved to customers satisfaction All Type 1 complaints need to be immediately notified to the Operations Manager who will then escalate to the Business Head and the Complaints Manager. Depending on type of complaint, the Business Head and Complaints Manager will determine the next course of action. Type 2 All other complaints All Type 2 complaints will be handled by the Operations Manager. These may be about the service, offering or staff members at MEF, or they may be about the Supplier, the equipment that they have delivered or the Introducer. Upon receipt of a complaint, MEF will investigate the complaint and wherever possible will aim to resolve the matter by close of business the day following receipt of the complaint. A complaint is resolved when the client has indicated acceptance of MEF's response. Unless the complaint has been resolved by close of business the day following receipt of the complaint (day 2), MEF will:

3 aim to send all written acknowledgements (where required) within an average of 5 working days. This will include the name and job title of the person dealing with the complaint. If the complaint resolution can be sent within 5 working days, the acknowledgement and resolution will be combined. aim to send a Final Response Letter or an Eight Week Letter within 45 days enclosing the FOS leaflet described below. At the latest, MEF will send a Final Response Letter or an Eight Week Letter within 56 days of receipt by MEF of the complaint. Forwarding complaints Where MEF has reasonable grounds to be satisfied that a supplier or introducer may be solely or jointly responsible for the matter alleged in a compliant, MEF may promptly forward the complaint, or the relevant part of it, in writing to the supplier or introducer. If MEF forwards the complaint, it will also: inform the client promptly in a Final Response Letter of why the complaint has been forwarded by MEF to the introducer or supplier, and of the introducer or supplier's contact details; and where jointly responsible for the issue alleged in the compliant, MEF will resolve that part of the complaint that it has not forwarded. The written acknowledgement: It is a regulatory requirement, on receipt of a complaint, for MEF to sent the client a prompt written acknowledgement providing early reassurance that we have receive the complaint and are dealing with it. We are also required to keep the client informed thereafter of the progress of the measures being taken for the complaints resolution. There are 2 letters, one for regulated and one for unregulated agreements. The FOS Leaflet: This is an Explanatory Leaflet from the FOS which needs to be sent with a Final Response Letter or an Eight Week Letter. The leaflet provides the client with advice and help he can receive from the Financial Ombudsman Service to bring the complaint to a successful resolution. It is only after one of the above letters has been sent that the FOS can act formally on the complaint. There is no charge for taking a consumer credit complaint to the FOS. The FOS can award up to 100,000 in compensation to the client. The Final Response Letter: The Final Response Letter is sent to the client on resolution of the complaint. This must: accept the complaint and, where appropriate, offer redress or remedial action; or offer redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or reject the complaint and gives reasons for doing so;

4 and it must: enclose a copy of the FOS standard explanatory leaflet; provide the website address of the FOS; inform the client that if he remains dissatisfied with the respondent's response, he may now refer his complaint to the FOS; and indicate whether or not MEF consents to waive the 6 month time limit for the client to refer the complaint to the FOS. The Eight Week Letter: If the complaint is not resolved within eight weeks, this letter is sent to the client. The letter will: give an explanation as to why a final response cannot yet be sent and indicate the expected date for providing a final response; inform the customer that they can refer the complaint to the FOS if they are dissatisfied with the delay; enclose a copy of the FOS standard explanatory leaflet; provide the website address of the FOS; and indicate whether or not MEF consents to waive the 6 month time limit for the client to refer the complaint to the FOS. Thereafter a Final Response Letter needs to be issued. All the above mentioned letters and the complaint log can be located in Worksite under the Complaint Handling Policy section. 5 Complaints Approach MEF will have controls in place to ensure that to ensure that complaints are handled by a sufficiently competent colleague who was not involved in the subject of the complaint and that complaints are handled fairly and in the interests of the complainant and MEF (e.g. training, quality control, sampling, operational metrics.)

5 Where a complaint is investigated and deemed to be in relation to other areas of the MEF, full responsibility for the complaint will still rest with the handler who will liaise with other department(s) and respond to the client. MEF will have controls in place (such as root cause analysis) to ensure that recurring and/or systematic complaints are identified and remedied. The Operations Manager will have the authority to settle the complaint and offer redress where appropriate in most cases. Where the complaint is outside their remit in terms of redress, the case will be escalated to the Business Head and the Complaints Manager with whom that extra level of authority rests. If the root cause of a complaint is found to be due to an error by MEF, the Operations Manager will ensure that this error is corrected by taking the necessary steps to put the client in the position they would have been had the error not occurred. If a complaint is upheld, MEF will decide on the appropriate redress to be offered (if any) and if this redress is accepted, then MEF will ensure that the Operations Manager complies with what was offered. The Operations Manager must keep the Complaints Manager and Business Head fully informed at all steps in the process